Hustler Movement more uniting than Azimio La Umoja

The Honourable Raila Odinga’s attempt at another reinvention of himself and counter-narrative to Dr. William Ruto’s Hustler movement was great but seems to be failing to hit the right chords with the populace. Like he has done many times before, the aging Raila came up with his new mantra after he and his ‘brother’ Uhuru Kenyatta’s BBI vehicle faltered in the hands, or should I say desks, of a fiercely independent Judiciary. The BBI would have been a shot in the arm for the enigma’s 2020 presidential bid 'if he were to chose to run.’

After the fall of the BBI, Raila had to dig deep into his political craft to find the last and perhaps this time, the very last bullet. He is adroit when it comes to finding that last bullet. He always has a way of getting it and getting away with it. And the so Raila comes up with AZIMIO LA UMOJA. A great slogan, I must admit but it is my considered view that this slogan is old and tired. This jingle, however you twist and paraphrase it, is the same rallying cry Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi’s KANU, Mwai Kibaki’s PNU, and Uhuruto’s Jubilee party used in their campaigns.

The feeling you get now from the monotonous call for unity especially when it comes from a politician is that it is a mere skin thin campaign tool only said to get the votes. After many failures by the previous users to attain even a semblance of the united nation we all dream of, few if any citizens would believe it to be said in good faith. It has come to be believed that politicians rip big from the divisions in the country and can never genuinely intend to achieve a united country. Thus, Raila’s catchphrase has failed to arouse enough interest and stir up sufficient curiosity in the electorate about the prospects of a Raila experiment.

Secondly, these unity calls have become some campaign to mobilize around tribes. So that it has come to be construed as calls for tribal alliances. It most certainly seems to mean that tribes rally behind a kingpin who will the represent them in the unity talks. Take one Kenya alliance for instance; the negotiations around it are based on what numbers (usually tribal) a principal comes with to the negotiating table. This has been the most used method in unity campaigns but it has failed again and again as it has become clear in the minds of many that these kingpins use their tribes for personal glory. At this point it appears that although these tribal chiefs still hold a significant sway on their various tribal groupings, the hold is beginning to wane with frightening speed.

This is the reason William Ruto’s Hustler movement seems to play the trick. Hustler movement is not presented as tribal unity call. And even though there are people within the hustler team that still speak tribe in campaign rallies, you can tell the most eloquent among them, the hustler in chief, presents it as a call to identify with values that make us all Kenyan. Hustlers have no tribe. They cut across and share the same challenges. A hustler in Mombasa and a hustler in Kisumu are the same. A small business owner in Garissa has the same problems as the one in Nakuru.

I am not sure the DP had the intention of achieving unity through his hustler movement or is it collateral effects of having people together because of the similarities of their problems. But one thing is sure; we are more united when we have a sense of facing a common enemy. We have done so during terror attacks, in times of natural calamities and other disasters.

What Ruto did was to make the vast majority of the poor and middle class and some moderate rich to understand that as a people who are striving to become better, our common enemy is a leadership that does not put our interests first. But that is not all. Ruto also manages to explain very well that we also have common goals. To end poverty, improve health care, grow the economy and create jobs. This is why he is the undisputed front runner currently. His message is well packaged and though some may doubt his sincerity, DP Ruto has managed to figure out how to speak to the hearts of many Kenyans.

Initially, the message seemed Marxist —an attempt to divide the country along class lines and many a critique took advantage of that to sell a narrative until they realised Dr. Ruto was too hot to be cooled by merely trying to assign a new meaning to his narrative. Even at that, my opinion is that were better off divided along class lines than tribal lines. Classes are fewer than tribes and therefore more unity than the disintegration born out of tribal divisions.

Whether intended or not, the unity prospects of the hustler movement are on the scale of what NARC almost achieved in the 2002 election before the self serving politicians killed the dream in 2005. It is an opportunity that Ruto must seize and build a national identity around values that make us Kenyan. An identity that Kenya has not had since independence. Ruto can give effect to chapter six of our supreme law if he wills. It is the chapter that was meant to foster our values and national ethos. It is where the Kenyan identity lies and should be taught in school right from beginner to tertiary levels. The only problem has been an unwillingness by the man on top to give full effect to the law.

William Ruto has the passion, the ability, zeal and now the tool to enhance and instil a sense of nationhood in the citizenry. He can create a government we all can be proud of. He can make all of us proud to be Kenyan. He can restore the pride of our flag and national anthem. We can do it. YES WE CAN!